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“Memory is a wicked thing that warps and twists. But paper and ink receive the truth without emotion, and they read it back without partiality. That, I believe, is why so few women are taught to read and write. God only knows what they would do with the power of pen and ink at their disposal. I am not God – nor do I desire to be – but I have a rather good idea what secrets might be recorded, then later revealed, if more women took up the pen.” (p 39)
How do you feel about this quote from the book? How is literacy connected to women’s rights and basic human rights? In what ways have levels of literacy changed since 1789 and how have these changes this affected women’s rights or human rights?
Martha’s diary is a critical component of the novel, and a key piece of evidence in Rebecca’s trial. Have you ever kept a diary or kept records in other forms (photos, videos, voice memos, etc)?
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One of the most effective means of controlling people is to deny them the skill of reading and writing thus limiting their ability to expand their lives beyond their immediate community and station within that community. It limits their ability to communicate, to think and question, to grow. Literacy is the key that opens the door to all possibilities in life. Without written records we would have no history to share and learn from. We see that in the journal that Martha kept. If Martha’s husband hadn’t taught her to read and write we never would have learned of her contribution to society and the welfare of women decades ago. We would not know more clearly what life was like during that era. Martha’s tidbits about each day eventually became a complete picture. A picture that educates us today about yesterday.
When we journal we take the bits and pieces of our lives, hold them in our hands, and give them meaning. We begin weaving the tapestry of our lives. Over the years I journaled all our boating adventures. Every time the lines came off Kindred Spirit a new page was started. Those tidbits and narratives have resolved disputes about where we were, when we were there, who was there and on and on. They entertained us and reminded us of how lucky we are to have had all those adventures. To have met so many wonderful people along the waterways. They are pictures of who we were for generations to come. I have photo-journaled our lives as well. I became an adamant fan of the scrapbooking era in crafts. Not only did I photograph our lives to death but I wrote the story that went with the pictures. The who, what, when, where and why of our lives. These too have answered many questions for us over the years. They show how our family has grown and how each member has changed over time. What their loves were, how we decorated our homes, where we went for entertainment, the cars we drove,etc.
The journaling I have done that fascinated me the most was when I worked on my master’s degree in elementary curriculum. Daily we were to keep a journal of what occurred in our classrooms. I wrote about the positives and failures of the day. How students responded to the day’s activities, what went wrong, what went right. etc. When time came to decide what my research topic would be I used those journals to find the answer. I admit I was skeptical about this crazy idea but there it was — what needed to be studied to improve my teaching situation – in my own handwriting. It was a concern my students and I expressed repeatedly over time. And, it was those journals that supplied much of the data needed to write my thesis. They served as my memory of tiny details I other wise might have forgotten.
So, literacy – reading, writing, telling our story, bridges the gaps between yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Without it we are mired in quicksand. Destined to be oppressed.
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So beautifully put, Libby. It’s so lovely that your journals have become treasured keepsakes for your entire family.
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I think journaling can provide a more objective record of an event. I think that relying solely on memory becomes more subjective because there is an unconscious bias that may be present as an event is remembered. Not allowing women to read and write keeps them under the domination of the one who is literate and keeps them in the role of a slave. That’s why slaves were not allowed to become literate.
In the past, I kept a journal where I recorded thoughts, wishes, fears, questions, prayers and passages from reading the resonated with me or gave me food for thought or action. I have worked on genealogy for years because of the pictures that my grandmother showed me. I wanted to know who the people in the pictures were. My niece recently messaged me a great number of photos what were in an album of my grandmothers which she received when my sister (her mother) died. I am trying to identify the people in those pictures for her.
When I was teaching English, a fellow teacher and dear friend and I had the juniors and seniors that we taught keep a journal. They could write about whatever they wanted within limits (I don’t remember the parameters); it was never judged or graded or shared with anyone else; the students were given points for simply turning in the journal weekly. We would write encouraging or funny comments or pose a question to what they wrote. Grading papers can sometimes be a real chore, but I really looked forward to those journals and the students looked forward to the comments.
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Nothing quite captures how radical and subversive Martha and Ephraim were than Ephraim teaching Martha to read and Martha teaching others, her children and other women. Much of the knowledge and skills of a healer could be conveyed without written literature; Martha didn’t need to read to be a midwife. But to share the story of her life and the community in the way her diary does was only possible for someone who could read and write.
The ability to read and write is fundamental to human rights, for men and women. If it was not, autocratic and patriarchal governments would not be so diligent about denying education, especially to women. I think I take for granted to some extent, that public education is a given in the U.S. but it is not a truly equitable option. Differences in resources and funding, sometimes even within a school district, mean that not all children have the same options to enjoy the skills and benefits of literacy.
I am not a journaler but I surely appreciate that of others, particularly when it brings such intimate knowledge of the writer’s time and community.
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That Martha kept her journals as both a pleasure and part of her duties as a midwife was interesting. I believe Susan mentioned that Martha’s diary was an early nursing document, and that makes a lot of sense given the legal aspects of her profession – noting down the fathers of the babies, the care administered, etc. But Martha’s diary ends up being so much more. It’s like a ledger of human activity. Birth records, medical emergencies, events of note, etc. Certainly useful to have. I’m not sure I 100% agree with Martha’s observation, “paper and ink receive the truth without emotion” as diaries can receive words that are very emotional and maybe not always truthful.
But I think in Martha’s case she does her best to be honest and observant. And it’s a wonderful record not only of her life, but also history. What’s fascinating is it also gave birth to the book we are all now discussing and enjoying! And yes, I believe women learning to read and write has helped women gain more rights and freedoms. The suffrage movements in the US and Canada were often led by women who could read and write, and I think that being able to write made a big difference in championing their cause. I’m saddened how literacy and education are still denied to many women around the world because, as Martha’s diary shows, her being able to read and write helped her and no doubt helped lift her family’s prospects too.
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I loved this quote. Martha is right to wonder what secrets might have been revealed if more women had been able to read and write! It makes me wonder how different the history we learn in school would be if there had been more women’s voices for historians to draw on. What stories would we as a culture value? I think literacy is very much tied to human rights.
When I think of the history of literacy in the Western world, I think it gave rise to the middle class, it brought about political movements that significantly changed societies. Our countries have been shaped by the spreading of knowledge and shaped the democracies we live in. I think it also keeps the powers of autocrats and elites in check. There’s a reason autocrats and dictators are quick to burn books and then jail and kill the people they view as the “intelligentsia” – the teachers, the scholars, the scientists. Simply put, reading provides people with the means to help comprehend the world around them, to question the status quo, and to be curious. It improves the mind and opportunities. Limiting its reach has also been a tool to suppress people because keeping them ignorant means you can control them by controlling how they think and what information they can access. Just as Libby expressed so well.
There was a reason that it was primarily only those in the church or royal court who could read and write in medieval times – it kept the power with the church and nobility. When the printing press was invented, it ushered in huge changes because it democratized reading.
I looked up the literacy rate in Canada and sadly, 48% of adult Canadians have literacy skills that “fall below a high school level, which negatively affects their ability to function at work and in their personal lives. 17% function at the lowest level, where they may, for example, be unable to read the dosage instructions on a medicine bottle.” Every study has a margin of error, but that’s not a really great number considering we’re living in an age where so much written information is available. I don’t know what the US statistics are. I’m sure the literacy rates in 1789 America were not very high. But knowing there was a Martha back then makes me think that there was a sliver in society who valued reading and writing and nurtured it. And that step by step we ended up with reading and writing taught in schools and to girls!
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Tara, Here is a link with some answers to your question about literacy rates in the U.S.
https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/post/literacy-statistics-2024-2025-where-we-are-now
Sadly and unsurprisingly, New Mexico where I live ranks lowest in child literacy. That, I believe, reflects the investment made by State and local governments in education and in its teachers. Spending on education is wildly inequitable. The State of NM continues to struggle to address the findings against in a 208 lawsuit Yazzie/Martinez vs State of NM) which determined that the state provided wildly inequitable funding to NM schools, particularly those in Native communities.
Education and literacy are only effective protectors of human rights when opportunity is truly available to all.
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Well said Jane. The opportunity is truly inequitable.
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Those statistics are so darned depressing….
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I believe that withholding the paths to literacy has been, and still is in some parts of the world, a pathetic, cruel means of subjugation of persons, motivated by fear– fear of loss of power, of domination, of superiority. Some people want to hold all the cards, and want everyone else to just stay in “their place.” Literacy leads to understanding, to illumination, to independent thought — for those who want to dominate, it’s a weapon that might be used against them, so they withhold the means. In male/female relationships, this has often been the case, and in Martha’s time, (and before, and beyond…) many men were too insecure to advocate that women be offered the same advantages. It’s a frustrating fact of history that continues to repeat itself. And this need for dominance expands not only to gender, but also to race, class, nationality, politics, etc.
In a related example, in the medical profession, the doctors used to communicate verbally and in written language in Latin and Greek in order to impress the patients with their education and appear “all-wise, all-knowing,” assuming that the average patient had no knowledge of these languages. They wanted power and control over them, instead of a mutual working relationship with them, a partnership in health. They used their literacy and education to keep themselves in the rarified air of the elite, where being obeyed and respected was often more important than the patient’s well-being. A good example in this book was Dr. Page’s approach to medical care versus Martha’s. Page wanted to dominate and be obeyed; Martha saw the person, learned their names, worked in concert with them and their wishes.Regarding the other part of todays question: I used to journal a lot. I found it a good way to sort out my thoughts and feelings, especially if there was nobody around that I could share them with. I found, though, that during many of the busiest, craziest, most interesting parts of my life, I didn’t take the time to do it. I do wish that I had had Libby’s (and Martha’s!) perseverance and self-discipline and made myself do it. I always thought that I would never forget certain moments and experiences, certain faces and names, and places, and yet, over the decades — they’re gone, or at least rattling around in a closet in my brain that I can no longer easily find the key to. It’s frustrating. So much is lost, without documentation.
On the other hand, if you do journal, then you have to ask yourself — what happens to these now? Should all thoughts be shared with others? If you use them for catharsis, do you really want anybody else to see them? If you use them simply to document day-to-day activities, should they really be saved for posterity? Should they be destroyed, having served your personal purpose, or should they be saved, leaving someone else to ponder what to do with them? I’m finding it interesting now in reading The Midwife’s Tale (the nonfiction book about Martha Ballard, that Jane clued us in to) that scholars at first ignored her diaries because they found them mundane, boring and noncontributory to history, whereas the author, Laura Thatcher Ulhrich, was able to put facts, dates, and details together to form a coherent, important glimpse into life of that era. She also notes, however, that Martha seldom revealed anything personal in these notations; it was rare for her to make such comments, but when she did, a lot could be inferred from them. And she, too, wondered if Martha had ever intended for the diaries to be preserved and read. There are other means of preserving memories available now (Blogs! Cloud storage!) so I think the impulse to document and share is alive and well, despite perhaps a lessening in the traditional journaling. I have a feeling that Martha would have allowed her journals to survive, as a witness to her life.
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Susan, I wonder what Martha would make of us reading her diaries and of how Ariel Lawhon portrays her. AL makes clear that her work is historical fiction and she created characters as she imagined them. I am inclined to think that Martha would have approved and would be an active participant in discussions, happy to correct any assumptions we might reveal.
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I agree with you about these points Jane.
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I wonder, too, Jane. I watched the PBS show about THT last night, but am still working on listening to the book. I was struck by the contrast between the documentary’s interpretations and Ariel Lawhorn’s imaginings; what she fleshed out, story-wise and character-wise, versus the facts that were actually available. Even taking into account the differences, I got the sense that Martha was a strong, determined woman who though disappointed by many things in her life, never gave up. And I agree –she would probably have been a severe proofreader and editor, making sure the facts were correct, and she probably would have played down her heroism or much sentiment, but I imagine she would have welcomed discussions about her times if it served an educational purpose that might help others understand and improve the world.
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I like to imagine she would be quite surprised and pleased by women’s achievements, especially those of her female descendants, who AL mentions in her acknowledgements. And I agree, Martha probably wouldn’t put up with any of our assumptions if they were too fanciful.
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It’s very true that memory can quickly distort but it can also quickly slip away! I find that with all the distractions in a day, it’s getting harder and harder to commit things to memory. I can’t say I’ve ever kept an active diary, although I do sometimes note down my activities on a given day. I also kept a journal when I travelled (and I usually took lots of photos then) to remember the experience.
I appreciated how Martha’s diary played a pivotal role in helping her unravel the mystery and assist her friend. I also love how the real Martha’s diary has had such an impact on the historical record! I can only imagine what secrets might have been revealed if we had found more women’s diaries throughout history.
I think literacy is most definitely tied to women’s rights and human rights in many fundamental ways. It provides independence. It provides better opportunities for employment. It provides a means to acquire knowledge that can help you in so many aspects of life.
I agree with the insightful and well written comments on the inequality of opportunity, the weaponization and the unfortunate reality in how literacy has been used to control populations. Today, we face literacy in a new way with the dominance of social media and the tendency of our generations to obtain news and information through SM. While reading and writing is not as much of a challenge as it was in 1789, comprehension, critical thinking and sincere desire for connection is the challenge now. It’s easily seen, even in reading groups on FB, where specific questions or topics are introduced in posts, only to have replies that don’t address the question at all. We see the disinformation that has led to confusion and thus, large groups believing untruths. We see many who post to have their voices heard, but rarely engage in meaningful exchanges. SM is primarily a portal for entertainment, but the lines have blurred to the extent that entertainment has become fact. This we see now with the AI generated images and videos and deep fakes. Indeed, literacy in all its forms has been, and continues to be a challenge and a weapon. So much has changed, yet the reality is that little has changed.
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Thank you, everyone, for your thoughtful comments. I would like to say how much I appreciate your comments for every question. Every single member here writes so well, so concisely and eloquently. Your points are well thought out and there are so many aspects of the question addressed. I appreciate the quality of these discussions and the effort that has been put into the considered responses.
I do not journal, but a friend of mine recently told me that she had gotten rid of all her journals in preparation for the day that her belongings get inherited by her relatives. The inequalities in education, literacy, justice and punishment have been used to control and marginalize populations. These can become strong messages that we do not matter. For some, these messages become deeply ingrained because of the constant injustices we see and painfully experience. As a society, I think the sentiment is that nothing can be done. Justice will never be served. But then we have Martha’s journal. And this is proof that we do matter, every single one of us. Even in recording the most mundane and repetitive events, Martha has made an incredible difference in her life, in the lives of those around her and in the lives of people who were never even born in her lifetime. One person can, indeed, make a difference.
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